Wed, Jan 18, 2006
Completes First Autonomous Ship Landings
Aero-News has learned the US Navy and Northrop Grumman
successfully completed a major step in the development of shipboard
UAVs earlier this week, when two RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) completed nine autonomous shipboard landings on
board the USS Nashville (LPD 13) off the coast of Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, MD. The test marks the first time a Navy UAV has
performed vertical landings on a moving ship without a pilot
controlling the aircraft.
The RQ-8A is a test version of the newer MQ-8B Fire Scout being
developed for the Navy and the US Army. The MQ-8B Fire Scout
(below, right) is the aircraft element of a complete system called
the Vertical takeoff and landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(VTUAV) system.
"This event is significant for the Navy because it continues to
move the Fire Scout program forward -- scheduled to arrive in the
fleet in 2008," said Cmdr. Rob Murphy, the Navy's VTUAV integrated
product team leader. "The Nashville's crew and Northrop Grumman's
test team did a marvelous job, and the outcome of the test
fulfilled our expectations about the vehicle's ability to land on
and take off from a moving ship."
After they were
launched from NAS Patuxent, each Fire Scout flew to the designated
test area, where the USS Nashville was waiting for the air vehicles
to land and take off under their own control. The flight was
monitored from a ship-based control station called a tactical
control system, and the air vehicle was guided onto the ship using
an unmanned air vehicle common automatic recovery system.
"This test represents another successful milestone in the
ongoing development of the Fire Scout," said Doug Fronius, Northrop
Grumman's program director for the Navy Fire Scout program. "The
data from the ship-landing test is valuable as we prepare the newer
MQ-8B version of the Fire Scout to land on a ship in 2007."
The Navy plans to use Fire Scout on board the Littoral Combat
Ship, where sailors will operate both manned and unmanned
helicopters to support operational requirements.
The company's Integrated Systems sector is developing and
producing 12 MQ-8B Fire Scout UAVs; four for the Navy and eight for
the Army. Fire Scout will provide the warfighter with real-time
video imagery and provide communications-relay capability. The
weapons-capable air vehicle, which can fly missions more than eight
hours long, will also help warfighters assess battle damage,
provide precision targeting and gather intelligence.
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